A few of you asked on here a while back to write up a report back on how the trip went!..... Here we go
I went with my best mates, about a week ago, for a week long training camp in Majorca. We had been kind of half joking about breaking up the UK winter with a warm weeks riding away, and within the space of about three weeks had decided on it, booked, and went. (Highly recommend this 'yolo' approach)
Does it really need to be stated that it was just fantastic? The roads were smooth. The cars were few. The weather was outrageous (we are aware how lucky we were for this time of year) - 18 degrees+ almost every day... And a warm 18-20... Warm air. Sun tans were gained.
For those of you who don't know, Majorca is pretty much the holy grail for cycling training camps. The island is such that it allows you to be able to ride in to the mountains quickly, and thus gain a large amount of elevation gain from one ride. OR you can take the flat, beautiful, quiet roads into the centre of the island for an 'easy' (if you like) day. This, along with the fact that the roads are utterly smooth, drivers aren't passionately hellbent on murdering you , and that the weather is generally fairly good - to incredibly great - makes for some pretty ideal mid winter training conditions.
We only accidentally rode down a motorway once. It was kind of the case of, we only realised once we were on it. Many people beeped encouragement (lol) to us.
I'm the kind of rider who is quite happy to go with the flow and completely trust my friends. Probably because i am a complete and total moron and would otherwise get us lost. So my friend Ollie planned all the routes, called all the turns. Completely mashed up my legs every day...
...Instead of me reciting a monotonous account of each day's riding on here, I thought it would make sense to link you to his brilliant blog outlining and detailing the rides and routes (which I recommend you all download from strava - linked - for your inevitable visits to Majorca!), the adventures, the thoughts, the breakdowns, the elations. And some pretty fantastic photography to boot....
[b]Days 1+2 - [url= https://olliejonesmod.wordpress.com/2017/11/22/majorca-2k17-the-backwards-training-camp/ ]Majorca 2k17 – "The Backwards Training Camp"[/url]
[/b]
[b]Days 3+4 - [url= https://olliejonesmod.wordpress.com/2017/11/24/majorca-2k17-going-uphill/ ]Majorca 2k17 – Going uphill[/url]
[/b]
[b]Days 5+6 - [url= https://olliejonesmod.wordpress.com/2017/11/28/majorca-2k17-the-final/ ]Majorca 2k17 – The Final, "mega 6 hour ride"[/url]
[/b]
They are absolutely brilliant blog posts.
It was the best week of my life. Having an adventure with no actual plan and with mates is really something to remember. We crammed a lot in that week. It seems, like a lot of people on here would attest to, whenever you do things like this, you can't believe how 'long ago' just two days ago feels. I guess that comes from taking in so much.
I've posted few images below. I don't want to spam, you can catch more over on [b][url= https://olliejonesmod.wordpress.com/2017/11/22/majorca-2k17-the-backwards-training-camp/ ]ollie's blog[/url][/b] (linked here or above)
[url= https://78.media.tumblr.com/91a774af039419ef060f9adf6ee8691d/tumblr_p07ix3VOow1wz0j7lo1_1280.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= https://78.media.tumblr.com/fdbfa90ace6f89d9efd36b083ac56c3f/tumblr_p07itm6J441wz0j7lo1_1280.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= https://78.media.tumblr.com/521d0b0f85a19997420d69c8ed57755b/tumblr_p07iugWFWt1wz0j7lo1_1280.jp g" target="_blank">
Hopefully will entice some people to head out there 😉 I hope to again that's for sure.
Seems pretty warm for this time of year. I'd bee to the island a few times as I have a friend with a house. It was about the third time when I took a bike, the first time I'd been outside the UK cycling. Brilliant trip, Loved it all.
There are other places you could look at in future years. Lanzarote, gran Canaria, tenerife,and southern Spain around benidorm. All cheap all with nice roads and good weather through winter.
I'm off to Majorca in march with my new race team. Really looking forward to going back. It has been a few years.
Majorca is great - outside of the March-May madness.
Love riding in spain, went to moriara last cristmas. Smooth roads chilled locals nice weather and views whats not to like. Cost a fortune in bike luggage and car hire but friends have just spent 4k to go to lapland for 4days! So cheap compared to that.
Early March for us, gets us home just before the local road races start kicking off. We too were spoilt for weather this year, way above the usual average.
Loved riding near Calpe this year, other than the weather on a couple of days (roads so greasy in the rain that one bloke crashed within 300m of the start of the first ride). I'd go back like a shot but next year's indulgence is a week riding down the alps on my own.
Spain is nice in places, but Mallorca is something special. I know [url= http://mallorcacycling.co.uk/ ]these guys[/url] who do the full package and are run by the Team Manager of Morvello Basso, so will definitely give you a great experience.
you were lucky with the weather, there was snow on the ground in palma last week.
Looks great, almost makes road riding attractive. Shame its so pants in the UK.
What is the March-May madness?
Might be having a family holiday there late April/Early May. Was hoping to attempt the loop of the island as part of my training for a long distance ride in June...
Shame it's so pants in the UK
It is what you make it, I live in central belt Scotland and am constantly surprising myself with the awesome selection of mazy minor farm roads and beautiful spots you pass through that you'd never see otherwise. Just need to set the bike up for the inevitable crap surfaces/weather and get out there and enjoy it.
Yeah I have to admit we were INCREDIBLY lucky.... the morning we left it had dropped to 10 Ish and was raining.
I’d still take that over grim English roads. This is the thing, even if it’s cold in these Spainish ‘training grounds’, you’ve still got the nice, smooth, wide, quiet roads, courteous drivers, epic views 360 and..... mountains!
But yeah, vvv lucky
Edit.
We’re roadies but i imagine the MTB out there is somewhat epic.
Look fantastic. Very tempting 🙂
Shame it's so pants in the UK
Bit cold and windy today... but the sun is shining 🙂
+1 loads of great, quiet country roads in the SE where I live. Discovered so many picturesque villages only a few miles from where I've lived that otherwise I'd never have even heard of! Must admit I spend a fair bit of time on Google Streetview checking road surface/hedges/junctions/etc to asses suitability of a potential new route but it means I've rarely had an upsetting ride.It is what you make it
I've rarely had an upsetting ride.
Much the same here TBH. Except for the occasional encounter with traffic or a bit of bad driving, usually in the first and last few minutes of a ride getting out and back into town.
And I'm always quite happy to get stuck into winter training though Nov and Dec. Though by about Feb it's usually wearing a bit thin so a nice weather camp is on the cards 🙂
We’re roadies but i imagine the MTB out there is somewhat epic
The MTB'ing is pretty good , but the routes/trails are less well known, its worth getting a guide for.
I did a mountain bike south to north crossing of the tramuntana mountains over a 3 day period a few years ago . It was a good ride, hard work, lots of climbing every day, but well worth it, very different to the usual van assisted downhill I normally do when abroad.
I have a place out there, but rarely bother taking the bike as the family isnt into it.
Some more pictures
[url= https://78.media.tumblr.com/4738dc058c853b8677d65bdc018abd06/tumblr_p07jl5VsAa1wz0j7lo1_1280.jp g" target="_blank">
[/url]
[url= https://78.media.tumblr.com/15bac9d966a50f5eb5101b523eb1d9b1/tumblr_p07jftDeCj1wz0j7lo1_1280.jp g" target="_blank">
[/url]
[url= https://78.media.tumblr.com/393636d26fc7bc33415cddce418ba794/tumblr_p07je9DF821wz0j7lo1_1280.jp g" target="_blank">
[/url]
[url= https://78.media.tumblr.com/627bc04d391c354688d5b869f5b21a38/tumblr_p07jcb3qjd1wz0j7lo1_1280.jp g" target="_blank">
[/url]
[url= https://78.media.tumblr.com/83244a86cdb0f05f5ecf650ac6cd790c/tumblr_p07ivkqI5E1wz0j7lo1_1280.jp g" target="_blank">
[/url]
[url= https://78.media.tumblr.com/ae805503fdd6ef1f17dec82f04a9bb5e/tumblr_p07i6zNFjl1wz0j7lo1_1280.jp g" target="_blank">
[/url]
[url= https://78.media.tumblr.com/c76b97d9ff10eeb51264fbdabe372e0a/tumblr_p07hr3aPTs1wz0j7lo1_1280.jp g" target="_blank">
[/url]
[url= https://78.media.tumblr.com/a037416b2590e42e5c1496a4165d4078/tumblr_p07hi8W2kO1wz0j7lo1_1280.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= https://78.media.tumblr.com/391ec52e529f4049a1309751d939b9f2/tumblr_p07h5ylgp81wz0j7lo1_1280.jp g" target="_blank">
[/url]
I'm a photographer 😉 These were all shot on iPhone btw!
More cool stuff on our blog 😉 [b][url= https://olliejonesmod.wordpress.com/2017/11/22/majorca-2k17-the-backwards-training-camp/ ]https://olliejonesmod.wordpress.com/2017/11/22/majorca-2k17-the-backwards-training-camp/[/url][/b] if you didn't get the message
Nat out.
Thanks for sharing this
EDIT: just read the blogs, excellent and I don’t even ride on the road
Why've you not put a link to Lawrences vlog?
cyclistm - Member
Why've you not put a link to Lawrences vlog?
I was waiting for Lawrence to put out the last! Which should be this afternoon.
The vlog of our trip is here 🙂
Going out in Feb to try and get in shape for Strade Bianche - I know the island pretty well and the road riding is fantastic. Love the climbs and descents in the Tramuntana. There are also great roads around the east 'German' side too. Will check out your routes to see if I can get any new ideas!
I have week booked in April with Stuart Hall .
Should be good , in a painfull kind of way.
Great write up and nice little video